Hon. Paul E. Gillmor: “I want to commend Chairman Tauzin, Ranking Member Dingell, and the others who have worked so hard to produce a…”

“I want to commend Chairman Tauzin, Ranking Member Dingell, and the others who have worked so hard to produce a conference committee report that certainly I am in very strong support of. In particular, I want to highlight the need to support the drinking water protection provisions contained in title IV. Just yesterday, newspapers were running front page stories about New York City worrying about the vulnerability of their water system. As chairman of the Subcommittee on Environment and Hazardous Materials, I am pleased that our committee is tackling that issue, which is a serious concern not only of some of our biggest systems but some of our medium and small-sized systems as well. I believe the original House language on title IV was preferable to the provisions in the conference report, but I am glad we were able to retain the core features of the House bill. Specifically, we require drinking water systems to do vulnerability assessments and to compile emergency response plans. In addition, we provide money for mandates and establish emergency funds. I strongly support the bill.”